Process of making carbureted water gas



m. 15, 1030. H H HES 2,064,008

PROCESS OF MAKING CARBURETED WATER GAS Original Filed June 5, 1931 2Shets-Sheet l INVENTOR ('60 e5 ATE/5% ATTORNEY 15, 1935. Q H HUGHESPROCESS OF MAKING CARBURETED WATER GAS Original Filed June 5, 1951 2Sheets-Sheet 2 9 f L m m n M 3:. 9 Eu Nu, n W M In I l i l mun. a an M IEu 1 I I a I II an f 8 r .1 l 4 1m F w 9 3 Patented Dec. 15, 1936iJNi'i'E STATES PATENT OFFI-QE PROCESS OF MAKING WATER GA CARBURETED sOriginal application June 5, 1931, Serial No.

Divided and this application July 19,

1933, Serial No. 681,061. In Great Britain June 5 Claims.

This invention is directed to the manufacture of carbureted water gas,and more particularly, to the operation of a carbureted water gas setinvolving a generator, carburetor, and superheater connected in series.This application is a divisional of my copending application, Serial No.542,271, filed June 5, 1931.

One object of this invention is to provide a process of makingcarbureted water gas in a carburetor of such construction and designthat the blast gases admixed with secondary air and through thecarburetor are substantially immediately ignited upon entrance into thecarburetor and burned in its passage through the carburetor, thusefficiently utilizing both the sensible and latent heat of the blastgases in the heating of the carburetor during the blasting cycle. Duringthe subsequent gas-making cycle, the carburetor of this inventionfunctions to accomplish efficient vaporization and admixture of the oilintroduced thereinto with the water gas passed therethrough. Preferably,Bunker C or other crude oils are employed to enrich the water gas. Thecarbonaceous material formed by the decomposition of the crude oilssettles in the unobstructed base portion of the carburetor withoutinterfering with the gas flow through the carburetor.

Heretofore, the usual water gas set consisted of generator containing abed of fuel and a carburetor and a superheater connected in series withgenerator. The interiors of both the buretor the superheater were builtup h checkerbrick material arranged in staged relation to form tortuousflues. In the nufacture of water gas, the blast gases produced in thegenerator by the passage of air or other oxygen-containing gas throughthe fuel ed therein, were discharged from the generator nd passed intoand through the carburetor and superheater. Secondary air admitted tothe carburetor and the superheater was admixed with the blast gases andthis mixture was ignited in its passage over the checkerbrick and burnedin these chambers. thus heating the checkerbrick. This blasting cycleapproximately lasted three minutes.

Thereafter, it was discontinued and the steam, admitted into thegenerator, passed therethrough acting with the fuel bed therein toproduce water gas which was passed into the carburetor. O l was intrduced into the top of the carburetor, the resultant oil. gas mixing withthe water gas a sing over the checkerbrick therein. The mixture of oilgas and water gas, in its passage through the carburetor and superheaterchambers, was fixed to form carbureted water gas. Thereafter, ifdesired, steam was passed in reverse flow through the superheater andcarburetor units down through the fuel bed in the generator, theresultant water gas being withdrawn directly from the base of thegenerator. When the temperatures of the fuel bed and the carburetor andsuperheater chambers had been reduced so that water gas could no longerbe generated, the gas-making cycles were discontinued and the fuel bedagain blasted with air or other oxygen-containing gas, and uponcompletion of this blasting cycle, the water gas-making cycles wererepeated.

It has been proposed to substitute for the usual enriching oil, whichdoes not form substantial carbonaceous deposits on the checkerbrick,Bunker-C, crude, or unrefined oils. In practice, however, it has beenfound that such oils leave an increased carbonaceous deposit on thecheckerbrick in the carburetor, clogging the fines and necessitatingfrequent shut-downs for recheckering. The arrangement of checkerwork inthe carburetor precludes the cleaning thereof without removal of thecheckerbrick from the carburetor chamber and consequently the entirecheckerwork had to be replaced, thus entailing arduous andtime-consuming labor and reducing the gas-making capacity of the plant,since the carburetor had to be taken out of operation for a considerableperiod of time.

In accordance with Doherty United States Patent No. 992,944, of May 23,1911, the amount of checkerbrick in the carburetor of a water gas 5 sethas been reduced and the carbureting oil has been introduced into anunobstructed space at the top of the carburetor, into the downwardlyflowing water gas stream, so as to obtain substantially completevolatilization of the oil before it contacts with hot checkerbrick tothereby reduce or eliminate the formation of carbonaceous deposits.Further, in view of the clogging of the checkerbrick when using Bunker-Cor crude oils, it has been proposed to omit the checkerbrick in thecarburetor and introduce Bunker-C or crude oil as the enriching mediuminto the top thereof, the oil gas and water gas flowing in the samedirection down through the carburetor into the base of the superheaterand up therethrough. Operating in this manner during the blasting cycle,blast gases sweep through the carburetor without substantial ignitionthereof, and consequently, only a portion of the sensible and little ornone of the latent heat of the gases is effective in heating thecarburetor. Furthermore, operation in this manner creates a seriousdanger of the non-ignited mixture of air and blast gases exploding inthe carburetor.

In contradistinction to the above operations, the procedure of thisinvention involves substantially immediate ignition of the air and blastgases upon their entrance into the carburetor.

Furthermore, the enriching oil is introduced into the carburetor in adirection countercurrent to the flow of water gas therethrough, and as aresult thereof, the oil is more efficiently vaporized and admixed withthe water gas and the tendency towards carbon formation is reduced. Theignitor is preferably constructed of massive walls, which may bearranged laterally of the carburetor at a point adjacent the gas inlet,the Walls functioning as heat reservoirs and ignitors to cause ignitionof the mixture of blast gases simultaneously with their introductioninto the carburetor during the blasting cycle. The enriching medium isintroduced at a point below the series of walls, remote from the watergas inlet of the carburetor, in a direction countercurrent to the flowof water gas, and is substantially completely vaporized during itscountercurrent flow, the oil vapors mixing with the water gas andpassing therewith through the carburetor, the carbonaceous materialresulting from the vaporization of the oil falling to the base of thecarburetor which is entirely free of obstruction. It will be noted thatin accordance with this invention, the carburetor is designed toimmediately ignite the blast gases upon their entrance into the chamberto obtain the full value of the sensible and latent heat of the blastgases as they pass through the vaporizing chamber, and also to eliminatethe explosion hazard hereinabove mentioned. Further, this inventionpermits enrichment of the water gas with Bunker-C or crude oil, thecarbonaceous residue formed in the carburetor settling to theunobstructed base thereof where it does not interfere with the flow ofgas through the carburetor and from whence it may be readily withdrawnthrough clean-out doors provided at the base of the carburetor.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification andshowing for the purpose of exemplification preferred forms of theinvention, but Without limiting the claimed invention to suchillustrative instances:

Fig. l is a perspective view, partly in section, of a carburetor of awater gas set illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a modifiedcarburetor construction; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a water gas setembodying still a further modified form of the carburetor of myinvention.

With reference to Fig. 1, the numeral 20 designates a cylindrical shellcarburetor of the type generally used in connection with a water gas setcomprising a generator, carburetor and superheater. An inlet 2| leadingfrom a generator, such as generator 38 of Fig. 4, is provided forconducting gases from the generator into the top of the carburetor. Anoutlet 22 is provided for conducting the enriched gases from thecarburetor to a superheater, such as superheater 55 of Fig. 4. The topof the carburetor shell, which is preferably of conical shape, isprovided with a manhole 23 provided with a readily removable cover 24.Spray pipes 25, provided with discharge nozzles 26, are disposed in theWalls of the carburetor and are adapted to discharge an enriching mediumupwardly into the carburetor. The disposition of the pipes 25 is such asto provide one pipe in each 90 sector. A lining 21 of refractorymaterial, such as firebrick or the like, is provided within thecarburetor.

Ports 28 and 29 are provided in the base of the carburetor to serve asclean-out openings for the removal of carbonaceous material deposited asa result of the cracking of the enriching medium introduced through thespray pipes 25. The openings 28 and 29 are provided with anyconventional closure means. Within the carburetor shell and adjacent theupper one-third thereof is a series of intersecting arched walls 3| and32 of massive construction which are bonded at their extremities withthe refractory lining 21 of the carburetor and which rise to a point ofintersection substantially on the axis of the carburetor and immediatelybelow the gas inlet 2|. A series of four walls are preferably provided,the walls intersecting at the center of the carburetor at right anglesto define 90 sectors, each sector containing one oil spray pipe 25 asabove described. The arched walls 3| and 32 are preferably composed ofrefractory brick laid to provide openings 33 and may be coped with asuitable high temperature heat-resistant alloy, for example, the alloyknown commercially as Fahrite which contains 40% nickel, 20% chromium,and 40% iron and which will stand temperatures of 2000 F. I have foundthat the lining of such refractory walls with high temperatureheat-resistant metal, such as Fahrite, is particularly advantageoussince the metal has a tendency to prevent the adherence of carbonparticles thereto. This characteristic of preventing adherence of carbonis particularly pronounced in nickel or nickel alloys.

The modified form of my invention shown in Fig. 3 differs from theembodiment shown in Fig. 1 and described above chiefly in theconstruction of the interior walls and the position of the point of oilintroduction. The oil is introduced through a pipe 34 extending throughthe top of the carburetor and terminating in a discharge nozzle 35adapted to discharge the oil upwardly toward the arched walls 3| and 32.The upper portion of the pipe adjacent the gas inlet is protected fromthe high temperatures experienced in the carburetor by a surroundingcolumn 36 of refractory material which extends from the point ofintersection of the arched walls 3| and 32 to the top of the carburetor,suitable brace members 31 being provided to ensure rigidity ofconstruction. Otherwise the construction of the carburetor issubstantially the same as that shown in Fig. 1.

It will be noted, in the above modifications of my invention, that thebottom of the carburetor is entirely free of obstructions and is readilyaccessible for cleaning purposes through the ports 28 and 29. The archedwalls 3| and 32 are provided immediately adjacent the gas inlet opening21 so that the gases entering the carburetor will immediately contactwith said walls and thereafter pass to the vaporizing chamber definedbetween the bottom of arched walls 3| and 32 in the base of thecarburetor.

In Fig. 4, I have shown the carburetor of my invention as employed in awater gas set wherein 38 designates a water gas generator containing abody of fuel ,(not shown). A charging opening 39 for fuel is provided atthe top of the generator. Steam may be supplied to the carburetorthrough pipes 4| and 42 and air for blasting the fuel within thegenerator may be supplied through air blast pipe 43. The generator 38communicates through the pipe 44 with the top of the carburetor 45 whichcontains intersecting arched walls 46 and 41 and refractory lining 48 oftypes similar to those shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Means may be provided for introducing an enriching medium, such as oil,into the carburetor, said means preferably comprising a pipe 49extending downwardly from the top of the carburetor to a point below thearched walls 46 and 41 and terminating in a spray nozzle adapted todischarge the oil upwardly into the downwardly flowing stream of watergas. A conduit 52 connects the bottom of the carburetor 45 to thesuperheater 55. The superheater is provided with a stack 56 for thedischarge of waste gases during the blasting cycle and an offtake 57which leads from the top of the superheater to a housing 58 and a washbox 59. Secondary air opening 54 is provided for the admission of airinto the carburetor during the blasting cycle. A conduit 6| leads fromthe base of the generator 38 to the housing 58. A suitable valve ispositioned in housing 58 to control flow through the set as is wellknown.

The operation of the above-described set comprises three steps; to wit:a blasting step, an uprun, and a backrun. In the blasting step air ispassed into the generator through line 43 and passes through the fuelbed therein, raising the temperature thereof until the fuel becomes anincandescent mass. The resultant blast gases are passed into thecarburetor 45 through the conduit 44. Secondary air is admitted to thecarburetor at 54. The mixture of air and gas is immediately ignited uponcontacting with the arched walls 46 and 41 mounted adjacent the gasinlet of the carburetor. As a result, the arched walls 46 and 4'! andthe refractory lining 69 throughout the length of the carburetor becomevery highly heated because of the combustion of the mixture of blastgases and air during its passage through the carburetor. The gases passthrough the carburetor through conduit 52 into superheater 55. The wastegases, after heating the interior of the superheater, are dischargedthrough the stack 56.

When the arched walls 46 and 41, refractory lining 48 and the interiorof the superheater 55 have been brought to the requisite temperatures,the flow of air to the generator is shut OE and the uprun step begun.Steam is passed into the base of the generator through inlet 42 andpasses up through the fuel bed reacting therewith to form water gas. Thewater gas formed as a result of the reaction between the steam and hotfuel, passes through inlet 42 to the carburetor 45 wherein it iscarbureted or enriched by the addition of oil through the spray nozzle5|. The oil is discharged into the carburetor in an upward directionbelow the arched walls 46 and 41, and flows in contact with theoppositely flowing water gas and is efficiently volatilized and crackedwith the production of carbonaceousmaterial and oil gas by reason of thetransfer of heat from the refractory lining and the arched walls.Introducing the oil in a countercurrent direction results in improveddispersion and admixture of the oil particles and resultant vapors withthe water gas, and also, due to greater surface of oil exposed to heatand contact of oil particles with the water gas, the oil is moreefficiently cracked and vaporized. The oil gas formed by thevaporization of the upwardly directed oil particles becomes intimatelymixed with the water gas by reason of the agitation of the two fluidswithin the carburetor, resulting from the counter-flow, forming a zoneof volatilized oil adjacent the massive walls in the upper portion ofthe carburetor which act as a reservoir of heat thus aiding in securingelficient volatilization and cracking of the oil. The carbonaceousmaterial settles into the large unobstructed space at the base of thecarburetor Where it accumulates without interfering with the flow of thegas though the carburetor. The high temperature present in thecarburetor as a result of the heat contained in the walls of checkerworkpartially fixes the mixture of the oil gas and water gas and assists inthe production of a fixed homogeneous product. The resultant mixturepasses from the carburetor through the conduit 52 to the superheater 55wherein fixation is completed. From the superheater, the water gasformed passes into the wash box 59 from which it is led through outlet62 to a suitable holder.

The steam uprun step may be immediately followed by a steam backrun"step. Conduit 51 is closed to the flow of gas, and steam is admitted at4| or 63, the inlets 42 and 43 being closed. The steam admitted at 63 issuperheated in its passage through the superheater and the carburetorand passes into the top of the generator and downwardly through the fuelbed therein. If desired, oil, such as Bunker-C oil, other crude oil,tar, or a hydrocarbon material may be introduced into the top of thegenerator during the backrun of steam, the resultant oil vapors passingwith the steam down through the fuel bed, and the carbonaceous residueformed by the decomposition of the oil or tar being deposited on the topof the fuel bed. The water gas, or in the case where'oil is introducedinto the top of the generator, carbureted water gas formed in thegenerator leaves at 64 through the conduit 6| and passes to the wash box59, thereafter being conducted to a suitable holder.

During the carburetion of the uprun gas, due to the cracking of the oil,particularly when Bunker-C or unrefined oils are employed, large amountsof carbonaceous material are formed and deposited on the walls and thebase of the carburetor. To remove the carbon deposit and clean thecarburetor walls and the refractory walls it is only necessary to shutoff the flow of gas, open the man-hole provided in the top of thecarburetor and scrape the carbon deposit from the lining and archedwalls with any suitable tool. The carbon falls to the bottom of thechamber from which it is readily removed through the clean-out portsprovided at the bottom of the shell, the time consumed in the cleaningoperation being of the order of 30 minutes. Thus, it is evident that thewater gas set need be shut down for only a very short period of time,after which operation may again be resumed.

Cal

It will be noted that in accordance with my invention, Bunker-C orunrefined oils of low cost may be efiiciently utilized in the enrichmentof water gas, the large unobstructed space at the base of the carburetorpermitting settling of the carbonaceous material formed from thecracking of the crude oil, from which the carbonaceous residue may bereadily removed when desired. Furthermore, the refractory materialprovided in the top of the carburetor adjacent the gas inlet insuresimmediate ignition of the entering mixture of blast gases and secondaryair, thereby making the latent and sensible heat of the gases availablefor use in heating the vaporizing portion of the carburetor as theignited gases subsequently pass therethrough. By reason of the copingprovided on the upper face of the refractory walls, the carbonaceousmaterial is prevented from depositing and accumulating thereon andinstead settles to the unobstructed space provided at the base of thecarburetor, which is of such size as to eliminate the necessity forcleaning except at relatively long intervals of time. Further, theignitor within the carburetor eliminates explosion hazards.

Since certain changes may be made in carrying out the above processwithout departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended thatall matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a process for producing carbureted water gas in a water gas setinvolving a carburetor having a gas inlet at one end and a gas outlet atthe opposite end, an igniter occupying a minor portion of the carburetorand leaving the remaining major portion of the carburetor completelyunobstructed throughout the horizontal cross-sectional area thereof, thesteps which comprise alternately preheating the carburetor by passingtherethrough a mixture of blast gases and secondary air, igniting themixture of blast gases and secondary air upon its entrance into thecarburetor, and burning said blast gases as they flow through theunobstructed major portion of the carburetor extending from said igniterto said outlet to store heat in said carburetor, intermittently flowingwater gas from an outside source through said carburetor, providing aspray of heavy oil directed countercurrent to the flow of water gas sothat turbulence between the heavy oil and water gas is set up, the oilis cracked and products of decomposition settle through the largeunobstructed space in contact with the flowing water gas stream, andwithdrawing the mixture of oil gas and water gas from the carburetor.

2. In a process for producing carbureted water gas in a water gas setwhich involves a carburetor having a top side inlet and a base sideoutlet, and having an igniter at the upper portion thereof occupying aminor portion of said carburetor, a vaporizing chamber immediately belowthe said igniter disposed with the upper portion of the vaporizingchamber in the upper portion of the carburetor near the gas inlet, theportion of the carburetor beneath the igniter being unobstructed, thesteps which comprise alternately preheating the carburetor by passingtherethrough a mixture of blast gases and secondary air, igniting themixture of blast gases and secondary air upon its entrance into thecarburetor and prior to introduction into the va porizing chamber, andburning the mixture passing through the vaporizing chamber as it flowsthrough the vaporizing chamber occupying the major portion of thecarburetor to store heat therein, intermittently flowing water gas froman outside source downwardly through said carburetor, providing anupwardly directed spray of heavy oil in the vaporizing chamber of saidcarburetor, the flow of heavy oil thus introduced being countercurrenttothe flow of water gas through the carburetor, the oil being caused toflow into the said upper portion of the carburetor where crackingthereof takes place, products of decomposition formed settle downthrough the flowing water gas stream and collect at the bottom of thecarburetor and the oil gas formed mixes with the water gas, theresultant mixture being withdrawn from the base of the carburetor.

3. In a process for producing carbureted water gas in a set involving acarburetor consisting of an ignition chamber composed of a wallextending from one side of the carburetor to the other and providinglarge unobstructed passageways for free flow of gas therethrough, and avaporizing chamber in series, said vaporizing chamber constituting theremaining portion of the carburetor and being substantiallyunobstructed, the improvement which comprises alternately preheatingsaid carburetor by introducing blast gases and secondary air from anoutside source into the ignition chamber and subsequently burning saidgases in the vaporizing chamber, intermittently flowing water gas froman outside source through said chambers in series, simultaneouslyintroducing and vaporizing a spray of heavy oil in the vaporizingchamber of said carburetor in conjunction with the flow of water gas,the sprayed oil flowing in a direction opposite to the flow of water gasthrough said vaporizing chamber, and depositing the residual carbonformed from said oil upon the bottom of said carburetor.

4. In a process for producing carbureted water gas in a set involving acarburetor consisting of an ignition chamber composed of a wallextending from one side of the carburetor to the other contiguous to thetop inlet to the carburetor and providing large unobstructed passagewaysfor free flow of gas therethrough, and a vaporizing chamber beneath saidwall, said vaporizing chamber constituting the remaining portion of thecarburetor and being substantially unobstructed, the improvement whichcomprises alternately preheating said carburetor by introducing blastgases and secondary air from an outside source into the ignition chamberand subsequently burning said gases in the vaporizing chamber,intermittently flowing water gas from an outside source downwardly.through said chambers in series, simultaneously introducing andvaporizing a spray of heavy oil in the vaporizing chamber of saidcarburetor in conjunction with the flow of water gas, the sprayed oilbeing introduced upwardly into the downfiowing water gas stream,depositing the residual carbon formed from said oil upon the bottom ofsaid carburetor, and withdrawing the carbureted water gas from the baseof the carburetor.

5. In a process for producing carbureted water gas in a set involving acarburetor consisting of an ignition chamber composed of intersectingwalls extending from one side of the carburetor to the other in theupper portion of the carburetor, providing large unobstructedpassageways for free flow of gass therethrough, and a vaporizing chamberin series, the upper portion of said vaporizing chamber being defined bythe base of said walls which are dome-shaped, the said ignition chamberoccupying a minor portion of the carburetor and the said vaporizingchamber constituting the remaining portion of the carburetor and beingsubstantially unobstructed, the steps which comprise alternatelypreheating said carburetor by introducing blast gases and secondary airfrom an outside source into the ignition chamber, which causes ignitionof the blast gases to take place, and subsequently burning said gases inthe vaporizing chamber, intermittently flowing water gas from an outsidesource tln'ough said chambers in series, projecting a plurality ofsprays of heavy oil into the vaporizing chamber from the periphery ofthe] carburetor, the said sprays converging in the top portion of thecarburetor beneath the said Walls and being projected in a directionopposite to the flow of water gas through the carburetor, causingcarbonaceous deposits formed upon decomposition of the heavy oil tosettle through the said vaporizing chamber into the bottom, of thecarburetor, and removing the carbureted watergas from the carburetor.

CHARLES H. HUGHES.

